Does anyone here attend services at a UU fellowship? I’ve always been attracted to that “faith”, although I’ve never been able to attend services at one. I plan to when I move in a couple of months, though. Going there will only add to my inability to explain my worldview—I have never been able to decide if I’m a spiritual or secular humanist; they seem the same to me. UUism complicates things, because it’s religious, but not really a religion. 54% of Unitarians list themselves as Humanists, so I have high hopes for fitting in.

Signature

“Let me whisper in all your ears: Infidelity is not dying—it
is growing—it increases every day. And what does that prove? lt
proves that the people are learning more and more—that they are
advancing—that the mind is getting free, and that the race is
being civilized.” - Robert G. Ingersoll

There are quite a few posts on Unitarianism here. First, go to the Humanist Bridge Building thead in the Humanism forum and read my historical post on the first page. Second, enter Unitarian in the search box at the top right side of the screen. They should give you some background. I was an active Unitarian for about thirty years because the minister at the church ( ) I joined was an atheist, 90% of the members were declared humanists, and about 80% were either atheists or agnostics. Since that time the Universalists have taken over and the denomination became far too theistic for me.

That’s the second or third time I’ve heard the UU label divided; I was under the impression that the UU church has been in one and the same for over a century.

Signature

“Let me whisper in all your ears: Infidelity is not dying—it
is growing—it increases every day. And what does that prove? lt
proves that the people are learning more and more—that they are
advancing—that the mind is getting free, and that the race is
being civilized.” - Robert G. Ingersoll

I have been looking for local communities that can expand my philosophical discourse. I attended a UU church in my area and found it way to spiritual and wrapped in emotions for my taste and the congregation was dominantly 40+ year olds (I’m 26). I have noticed the number of college age & young adult members is remarkably low among many liberal religions in america. I know the atmosphere in UU churches is set by the local members and can vary a lot more by location than other denominations. I would like to know of any other philisophical or secular humanist organizations outside of religion that people have been involved with.

Signature

“It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected findings of science.” ~ Carl Sagan

The Unitarians started in the fourth century when, at the Council of Nicea, the Trinitarians won the vote. Those priests who believed there was only one god were given the choice of converting or excommunication. The Unitarians went underground for many centuries and as organizations that are persecuted often do, they attracted other people with splinter beliefs and were accepting of variation in ideas. In the sixteenth century they were able to go public in Transylvania. By the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries they were pretty open. In fact, in the 1930s a group of free-thinkers which included a couple of dozen Unitarian ministers got together and formed the Humanist Association (see Humanist Manifesto I). By the mid-twentieth century the Unitarian philosophy was attracting large numbers of young people and they were growing rapidly.

Meanwhile, in the nineteenth century a group of liberal Methodists who didn’t like the constant threats of eternal damnation for even minor infractions broke away from that church and formed the Universalists. That is, they believed in universal salvation. God was too good to punish anyone forever, but would allow everyone to be saved eventually. By the mid-twentieth century the mainstream churches had moved away from the fire and brimstone approach so the Universalists didn’t have much different to offer. They had a lot of real estate and endowments, but they were losing members.

The Universalists approached the Unitarians and suggested a merger because they were both quite liberal, socially. Unfortunately, the Unitarian hierarchy saw the money they would bring with them and got greedy. They merged and became the Unitarian Universalists. Since then the Universalist mafia has slowly taken over the adminstration of the denomination, and the Unitarian schools of theology. There has been a shift to the theological right to the point that they are now not very far left, theologically, of the Methodists.

When I joined in 1968 the minister of the local church was an atheist. After he retired, they’ve gotten increasingly theistic ministers and only give lip service to humanism. I tried to resist the movement locally, but finally gave up and left.

As an atheist, the last thing I ever want to do is go to any kind of church or belong to any kind of organised atheism. It doesn’t entirely defeat the object of what atheism is but it would certainly take a lot of the fun out of it.

Nice day at the office, dear?
That mundane phrase
That ends the weary weekdays
In sodding dull suburbia
And while I don’t mind it
I try to blind my mind to all the lunacy behind it
I pushed buttons that made sounds
That alerted the man
Who picked up the phone and said “Yes, sure…”
And I wondered what I did that for
As I waited while he came in from the office just next door
When I could just shout and he would hear.
Nice day at the office dear?
Or have a nice weekend
Perhaps, but I don’t know though
So, Sunday, what did we do?
The guy in the pretty dress offered me a biscuit
And told me it was the body of a long dead messiah
But rather than deny her
I said, “Yes, I should coco”
In Hebrew
Then we slurped on gone off grapes instead of beer
Nice day at the office dear?